Arctic Cat repositioned its supply chain to better support its focus on new product development.

By Tim O’Connor

Arctic Cat’s business is partly dependent on conservation. If there are no grassy hills to jump over or snow-covered trails to sled, then there is no reason for outdoor enthusiasts to purchase its all-terrain vehicles or snowmobiles. Which is why the company is concentrating more on green procurement practices. Arctic Cat’s green procurement officers track government regulations and work with suppliers to implement more environmentally friendly practices.

Many larger suppliers already have green programs in place, but making the investment in environmental initiatives can be difficult for smaller companies that have less capital or fewer people to spearhead such efforts. “It’s more the medium and small suppliers we will help coach,” Director of Supply Chain Dave Dickirson says.

Acieta LLC gives its clients more value with its robots and added services.

By Alan Dorich

Some might fear unforeseen complications when it comes to implementing robotic technology, but Acieta LLC strives to make things simple. “We want it to be easy for customers to do business with us,” Service Manager Tim Rademaker declares.

“We simplify the process of doing business with us,” he continues. “We believe that our approach is a key differentiator from other robotic integrators.”

Ultra Tool & Manufacturing has a loyal client base that includes Harley-Davidson.

By Alan Dorich

For nearly 50 years, Ultra Tool & Manufacturing, Inc. has earned loyal clients in the electronic, lawn and garden, military and motorcycle markets. “Once they get accustomed to working with us, they enjoy the quality and customer service,” owner Terry Hansen says.

Clients particularly enjoy how they encounter few issues when working with Ultra Tool. “Many of our customers call us ‘the silent supplier’ because they never have to micro manage us,” he says.

The 2017 RAPID + TCT event recognized veterans in the additive industry, as well as those who are innovating and students who are beginning their careers in the market.

RAPID + TCT is known for being the destination for 3-D manufacturing solutions, and this year the conference and expo’s focus was on “accelerating 3-D manufacturing” throughout numerous markets.

Created for users and suppliers, the 2017 event was a key destination for those who provide technology and for those who needed to understand, explore and adopt 3-D printing, additive manufacturing, 3-D scanning, CAD/CAE, metrology and inspection technologies. This is the first year that SME and The TCT Group partnered to produce the RAPID + TCT + TCT event.

One of the event’s major features was the Additive Manufacturing Community Awards. SME’s Additive Manufacturing Community produces technical content for SME programs and other industry events on advanced additive manufacturing technologies and processes that allow the development, testing, and manufacture of new products faster and more cost-effectively.

This year, the community recognized Dieter Schwarze, PhD, of SLM Solutions GmbH with the 2017 Industry Achievement Award because of his significant and continued impact on additive manufacturing through development of processes and technology applied in industry. In 1989, Schwarze began his research and development work on additive manufacturing and its commercialization. He is one of the primary inventors of selective laser melting. Schwarze holds several patents and previously studied physics at the University of Paderborn.

“Dr. Schwarze has been instrumental in the development and expansion of global additive manufacturing,” says Mihaela Vlasea, PhD, assistant professor in the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering Department at the University of Waterloo and an advisor to SME’s Additive Manufacturing Community. “The impact of his research, development and application of groundbreaking technologies just cannot be overstated. We’re proud to recognize him with this award.”

Since 2008, SME’s Direct Digital Manufacturing Tech Group also has held an annual student competition for high school and college students. This year, the Digital Manufacturing Challenge was won by the team from Virginia Tech: Jacob Fallon, Camden Chatham, Andrew Cohen and Eric Gilmer; and their faculty advisor Christopher Williams, PhD.

“The Virginia Tech team created a Customized Golf Grip to facilitate proper swings and allow players to practice without a professional's supervision,” SME says. “The grips are custom fit using clay, which is scanned to create a 3D-CAD model. Using additive manufacturing, the CAD model is directly manufactured into a set of grips.”

Moving heavy machines through a production process by traditional methods such as cranes, conveyors and forklifts is time-consuming and often costly. Contact pressure from wheels, rollers, forklifts, or the load base can damage flooring due to excessive point loading. Costs to repair or replace can be considerable. Epoxy coated flooring, commonly used in industry, costs from $5 to $10 per square foot—a significant expense for a 50,000-square-foot shop floor.

While cost-efficiency is an ongoing issue with cranes, conveyors and draglines, another drawback is that all three are subject to limited flexibility due to their fixed position on the factory floor. If throughput requirements are increased or the production flow needs to be changed, these solutions are limited by their fixed location and speed. Compounding the problem is the tight design of factory floors. With minimal investment and zero downtime, air casters provide a workable alternative, which can be expanded to accommodate changes to production flow and throughput.

Company supervisors and owners have increasingly turned to air caster hovercraft technology to provide a low cost and flexible conveyance for heavy machines through a production process with less manpower, often in the form of a single operator.

Explaining Hovercraft Technology

Air caster hovercraft technology literally floats the equipment or load on a film of air. This technology has been around for many years, the most notable examples being the air hockey table and, of course, hovercrafts. In industrial applications, use of air casters provides ultra-low friction, allowing movement of loads weighing thousands of pounds to be controlled by hand.

Basically, an air caster is a torus shape bag that captures air to lift and move objects. The air pressure requirement for them is less than 60 psi, which the overwhelming majority of factories already have in their compressed air systems. Air caster technology provides omnidirectional load movement adjustments, meaning the casters can move in any direction without increasing force as is the case with wheeled casters. Omnidirectional movement allows more maneuverability and precise placement of equipment and loads that is not feasible with fixed transport systems or rollers.

Air casters work best on smooth, flat surfaces found in most manufacturing plants as well as epoxy coated flooring, tile, metal and vinyl. Although surfaces including asphalt, gravel and dirt are considered unacceptable, use of a temporary overlay will enable the technology to do its job and successfully complete the move.

The Experience of an Engine Rebuilding Facility

Among the many facilities relying on air caster technology for flexible moves is a diesel engine rebuilding facility in the U.S. Southwest. Air caster systems transport a variety of components weighing several thousand pounds each throughout the plant. The company describes the operation as “effortless load movement for technicians,” and relies on air caster technology to provide efficient production processes.

The company still uses cranes for large sections and subassemblies, but has had issues with battery-powered wheeled vehicles, which it says lack the mobility and flexibility inherent with air casters.

Among the benefits senior management attributes to the technology are precise load control, reduced damage to the shop floor and an increase in productivity. The firm said its employees required only minimum training to become proficient.

Cost Comparison

While air casters require an initial investment, short and long-term financial calculations will offer a clear picture of return on investment. They cost more than traditional wheels and rollers, but certainly far less than cranes. Users cite several compelling benefits of this technology. Among them:

Considerably less injury exposure than with wheels.

A reduced need for costly repairs and replacement of floors.

For industries considering expansion at their location, air casters can easily relocate an assembly line—a capability fixed moving systems are incapable of duplicating.

Improved manpower efficiency as many air caster systems need a single operator for tasks formerly requiring multiple personnel.

Adopting the Technology

It’s little wonder that hovercraft technology is finding a home in heavy industry. A technology often associated with recreation at its inception more than 50 years ago has been significantly advanced and upgraded. From eliminating floor damage to more effective use of time and manpower, air casters are gaining greater acceptance as efficient, agile, safe and cost-effective tools for moving heavy equipment.

KME CNC solved an internal problem with innovative equipment that have now made it a bigger success.

By Chris Petersen

Many of the biggest success stories in manufacturing come about because someone found a creative way to solve a particular problem about found that the solution could be applied elsewhere. That has certainly been the case for Irvine, Calif.-based KME CNC, which found a creative solution to an internal problem and has turned that into a highly successful business solving the same problem for its manufacturing customers across the country.

As Director of Sales Robert Reynolds explains, the company’s path to success arose unexpectedly. KME CNC’s original focus was on contract manufacturing for equipment used in a variety of applications. The company wasn’t satisfied with the accuracy it was seeing from its existing equipment, so it explored the possibility of investing in five-axis systems. However, Reynolds says, the five-axis machine tools on the market at the time were prohibitively expensive. The solution, he adds, was for the company to create its own.

In time, KME CNC designed a five-axis system that could be built directly into an existing tombstone, making the existing system capable of machining five faces of a part in a single cycle and creating greater productivity and accuracy. A local distributor stopped by the company’s facility and saw its five-axis equipment, and Reynolds says the distributor offered to buy the company’s tombstones on the spot. Ever since, KME CNC has specialized in offering manufacturers five-axis systems built right into the tombstone. Reynolds says the company’s customer range from small mom-and-pop manufacturers to some of the world’s biggest operations. “Because of our particular product line, our customer base is pretty broad,” he says, adding that the company’s five-axis systems can be found in the automotive, aerospace and medical manufacturing sectors, among others.

Versatile Machines

The diverse nature of KME CNC’s customer base is testament to the versatility and utility of its systems. The company’s equipment can convert three-axis vertical machining centers or four-axis horizontal machining systems into five-axis production machines. According to the company, its standard five-axis tombstone comes standard with four platters, but can be customized to include more platters based on the customer’s needs. This allows customers to machine multiple five-axis projects in a single setup, with the option to drive each platter independently or all at once. The end result, the company says, is reduced setup time, less waste, greater accuracy and more productivity overall.

One of the most important elements of the company’s five-axis systems is that all of them utilize transponders to communicate with the tombstone wirelessly. Reynolds says the across-the-board wireless capability is one of the strongest advantages KME CNC’s equipment has because of the added flexibility it gives customers. “All of our devices have brains in them,” he says.

Another significant advantage KME CNC has working in its favor is that it is an American-based manufacturer, and all of its equipment is made in the United States. That means the company not only has a better grasp of what its customers require than an overseas manufacturer would, but Reynolds says the proximity to its customers also gives KME CNC greater flexibility to fulfill custom requests. Reynolds says the company is able to build systems to suit each customer’s specific requirements. “I don’t know that a lot of other tool builder do that,” he says.

New Frontiers

With the innovative solutions it provides, Reynolds says KME CNC’s biggest challenge is making sure it stays at the forefront of the industry and keeping potential customers aware of the many advantages its systems provide. “Our real competition is evolution,” Reynolds says. “For us, the biggest challenge is just getting the word out, more than anything.”

Fortunately, the manufacturing sector is changing in such a way that KME CNC’s five-axis systems could be the solutions needed for a growing segment of the industry. As more manufacturers institute lights-out CNC machining and pallet-pool machining into their operations, the need for flexibility and quick-change setups becomes more prevalent. Reynolds says this is where KME CNC can bring a lot of value to such operations, and the company is hard at work keeping its name and its products out in front of those potential customers.

Additionally, KME CNC is always looking for new ways to improve upon its forward-thinking equipment. Reynolds says the company’s goal is to push wireless technology forward in the marketplace to anticipate customers’ needs before they even know what those needs are themselves. “We’re always looking for what the next need is in our environment,” he says.

OFS Brands can quickly process and deliver its clients’ furniture. By Alan Dorich

After eight decades, OFS Brands thrives by being flexible and nimble. “We’ve got to maneuver quickly as client’s needs change relative to the new ways we work, learn and heal,” President and CEO Hank Menke says. “We have to understand and anticipate their needs and design solutions quickly and penetrate the market.”

Based in Huntingburg, Ind., OFS Brands provides contract furniture and logistics services to office, healthcare, education, government and home office markets around the world. Menke’s grandfather, William Menke, started the company 80 years ago as DuCraft Inc., a manufacturer of wooden basketball scoreboards.

Superior Essex stands as a leader in wire and cables, including magnet wire.

With a legacy stretching back nearly 90 years, Superior Essex Inc. says it has a reputation of high integrity and for delivering products with excellent customer service. “We are proud not only of what we are accomplishing, but of how we are achieving success,” the company says.

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